Ideas for Educators - Idea Blog

Get Your Students Moving with this Simple Strategy!

9/22/2017

Looking for another way to change up your student brainstorming? Try the GOGOMO Strategy. GOGOMO stands for Give One, Get One, Move On. This week I used it with students in a lesson focused on work ethic (as it relates to citizenship, government, and being a successful scholar.)

1. Ask students to fold a piece of paper into 8 sections.

2. In the first section ask them to write down one idea of their own, in response to whatever question you pose. For us, we asked students to write down one work behavior that would help them be successful in school.

3. Have students stand and move around the room to find a partner with a different answer. Each student "gives one" and "gets one," and then "moves on" to find another partner. No repeats are allowed.

4. After everyone fills all eight spaces, you can ask them to share one, prioritize the ideas, etc. We asked students to star their strength and circle an area for growth.

Super Strategies for Everyday Teaching

9/8/2017

My newest book is now available! Super Strategies for Everyday Teaching is a collection of easy-to-implement strategies that have been effective for all students, but especially for those who struggle. Just in time to strengthen your lessons for this school year, you will find more than 80 ideas to implement right away.

“Anne Beninghof has developed and shared practical strategies that arm teachers with tools and resources to engage ALL students! They are simple, inexpensive instructional approaches that close the learning gap for even our most struggling learners. This new book will be an amazing, must have, resource for all teachers.”
—Toni Palmer, Chief Leadership and Development Office

For "faster than a speeding bullet" delivery, place your order at CreateSpace

The book is also available through Amazon and for orders of 100 or more copies, contact me directly and I can arrange a 20% discount.

Coming soon - a digital version for Kindle and iBooks!

Essential Anchor Charts for Co-Teaching

8/23/2017

Anchor charts are posters that serve as reference and reminder tools for key information. Students can look up at the wall and quickly review essential content or rules for the classroom.

It dawned on me that teachers might need anchor charts, too! It is hard to remember everything there is to know about effective instruction. Why not create some “cheat sheets” or anchor charts for essential co-teaching practices?

I recommend two anchor charts for co-taught classrooms.

Small Grouping Practices Anchor Chart

Choose four small group instruction models that you and your partner like best. Then when you realize that your whole group instruction isn’t going as well as you’d like, you can quickly choose a small group practice and have students move. Here is my anchor chart – use it or create your own.

2. Teacher A/Teacher B Anchor Chart

When one teacher is lecturing, what should the other be doing? Some tasks, such as jumping in to clarify, may come naturally to you. But there are so many different things that co-teachers can do to enhance instruction. Here is a list of 30 different ideas. Choose 5 that appeal but that you might not think of in the moment. Make an anchor chart with those 5 and hang it somewhere you can see it easily if your partner is lecturing.

teacher_a_teacher_b.docx
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Active Alternative to Brainstorming

8/15/2017

Looking for an easy, novel approach to brainstorming?
How about a strategy that requires NO PREP?

If so, then Blanket the Table is for you.

Each student needs to rip up paper ( use paper from your recycling bin) into 4 pieces.
Place students in heterogeneous groups of five or six, and ask them to stand around a cleared desk.
Put two minutes on a visual timer.
Explain to the students that the goal is to brainstorm enough ideas to Blanket the Table (cover the desk top.)
When they have an idea, they say it aloud to their group, then write it on their scrap of paper and drop it on the table. We use the phrase "Say it, Write it, Drop it."
Give the students their brainstorming topic - i.e. types of animals, countries in Africa, etc. - and say "Go!" as you start the clock.
When time is up, ask the students to give their teammates a High Five or Fist bump.
At this point you can choose to have students prioritize or categorize their ideas, share their favorites aloud, or just move ahead with the lesson.

Grouping Graph for Co-Taught Classes

8/9/2017

One of the biggest benefits of co-teaching is the opportunity it provides to do lots of small, teacher-led instructional groups. Experts in the field suggest that 60-80% of co-taught class time should be spent in small groups. Why? Because they allow teachers to differentiate and intensify instruction, as well as allowing students more chances to participate and connect.

This school year, I am going to track the percentage of time I spend in small group instruction. Having a graph will keep me accountable to this ideal, and will provide me with additional data to analyze when looking at student growth. I have created a very simple bar graph for a 10 day cycle of instruction and would love to have you join me on this data collection journey. Print your own copy here and let me know how it goes!

small_groups_graph.pdf
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Boost Your Students' Reading Comprehension

6/26/2017

Summer is a great time to kick back and explore some apps that might work for your students. While not every classroom has 1:1 iPads, many teachers and specialists have access to at least one iPad. If so, check out the Reading Comprehension Booster app.

This app provides a bookshelf for each student where they can store notes about the book they are reading. Notes are stored on interactive bookmarks, based on essential instructional elements identified in literacy, brain and learning research. Each booster bookmark has a variety of interactive options to tap into different ability levels and interests. Users can read or listen to directions, draw, type, drag or record responses, and much more. Children can choose from Characters, Connections, Story Seeds and other bookmarks, or use several simultaneously. They can also create their own bookmark template and share it with the class. Children can easily email their work to a parent or teacher for review and discussion.

I have also used it with a whole group while reading a book aloud. Simply project your iPad onto a screen and ask students to help you with creating bookmark notes.

All for just $3.99!

PS If you don't have a classroom iPad, find out if the student's family does - perhaps they will want to use it at home.

Participation Trackers

6/12/2017

There's a mantra I like to repeat when I am planning and implementing my lessons - "The person doing the talking is the person doing the learning." It reminds me that student talk is usually more valuable than teacher talk, minus a few mini-lesson minutes. Because of this goal, I am always on the hunt for simple structures that encourage and track student talk. Here is an easy-to-implement idea I saw in a Wisconsin classroom recently.

Student names were on regular-sized sticky notes. To adapt it for the secondary level, I would create a similar chart for each class, but smaller - perhaps on a piece of construction paper - and use the smaller sticky notes. That way I could still have each class posted on a wall. Another option is to create just one chart with numbers only and have each student assigned a number.

We might not get to every student in one lesson, but with creative structures like this one, we can be sure to come back to them in the next! When you set up your classroom for next school year, how will you include structures for increasing participation?

For more ideas, keep following and look for an announcement in the fall about my newest book!

Why Doodling Will Change Your Life

5/17/2017

Remember that boring meeting you had to sit through a few weeks ago? You probably remember being bored, but do you remember any of the content that was discussed?

Psychologist Jackie Andrade of the University of Plymouth has found a solution to this pesky problem. During your next boring meeting or *lecture, pull out a pen and paper and start doodling. Andrade’s research shows that doodlers remember more than nondoodlers, especially when learning tedious information.

Because doodling can increase retention, consider ways that you can weave it into the next class you teach or presentation you give. Provide your learners with a doodle page connected to your content, or a thinking map onto which they can add illustrations. Below is a doodle page from a unit on growth mindset.

*If you are the one that is giving the boring lecture, then find some ideas to liven it up at www.caffeinatedlearning.com or www.ideasforeducators.com.

Don't Fight Their Need to Move!

5/6/2017

At the Council for Exceptional Children annual conference a few weeks ago, I had a wonderful time wandering the exhibition halls. So many innovative products on display! One of my favorite booths was at the Therapro booth. It was filled with fidget items for students who need tactile or kinesthetic input (which includes many of our struggling students!) One product really caught my eye - something called Bouncy Bands. These are heavy duty rubber items that fit over the legs of a desk or chair so that students can bounce their feet while sitting. The Bouncy Bands appeared very durable and sturdy– better than my previous attempts at tying theraband or using bungee cords.

You can find out more about the various styles and sizes on their website www.therapro.com

This Free Manipulative Will Be a Hit With Your Students

4/29/2017

I am always on the prowl for new manipulatives I can use with my students. Hands-on learning increases student engagement and retention - both benefits that all teachers can appreciate. So for a recent economics unit, I wracked my brain for a way to add something tactile to the lessons. And then I found it! Gift Cards!

Now, don't think that I have the money to buy a bunch of gift cards for my students. Nor did I have the time to wait through the next 12 months to use up the ones I have with money on them. So instead, I went to my local grocery store customer service counter and asked if I could have some blank, no-value cards. It turns out that my grocery store (and maybe yours) recycles gift cards and had hundreds of them they were willing to give me. I then proceeded to Walmart, Starbucks and McDonalds to ask the same question - and SUCCESS! I now own dozens of gift cards from four different vendors.

Below is a photo of how I used them in the economics unit. Students were directed to choose one card of their liking, and then write on a sticky note what the opportunity cost was of their choice. They were actively engaged in discussions with their peers about the benefits of each and why they made their choices. Having the card to hold kept their interest high and their attention on the topic.

Not teaching economics? Here are some additional ideas for what to do with free gift cards:

Mark the cards with dollar amounts for math problems
Stick address labels over the backs and write vocabulary terms
Ask each student to choose one and write a story about something that happened there
Distribute cards randomly and direct students to develop persuasive arguments about why their's is the best store, restaurant, etc.
Have students develop slogans, illustrations, etc. for that business

Have an idea for how to use gift cards in you classroom? Please share so that we will all be 'richer.'